The tiny French village football team of Luzenac, denied permission to play in the second division, have disbanded their first team with the second team set to continue in the amateur seventh division, according to player Nicolas Dieuze.

Speaking to AFP after a players' meeting with club managing director and French World Cup-winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, Dieuze said: "The club stops and restarts in the DHR (division d'honneur regionale).

"The second team becomes the first team. The players are freed from their contracts and are now in the jobmarket.

"Who would have thought that five months after our promotion to Ligue 2, we'd be saying goodbye to each other in a car park?" lamented Dieuze.

The ex-Toulouse midfielder, who had been at Luzenac for two seasons, added: "I feel a lot of sadness about what's been done over recent years.

"They're sending us to DHR with a great kick up the bum. In two weeks, we'll no longer speak about Luzenac.

"The players, like many people in France, will go down to the dole office."

Barthez and fellow Luzenac official Jerome Ducros had met with French football federation president Noel Le Graet on Wednesday to discuss their case.

Luzenac (pop. 649) had caught the public's attention with their fairytale rise from obscurity, winning promotion from the third tier of French football last season.

The Professional Football League (LFP) since ruled that they could not take their place in Ligue 2 because their ground did not conform to the required safety standards.

Last season, the club from the Pyrenees, whose own Stade Paul Fedou has only one stand and 400 seats, played their home games at nearby Foix, where the capacity was just 3,000.